president. because bill barr is the out going attorney general. formally announcing he's resigning tonight. resignation letter written to trump. last day is next week. all of this comes after an unusual public clash with the president over voter fraud claims. he had been historically loyal throughout the tenure including on big ticket issues like the russia probe. that does it for the beat tonight. i'll be back tomorrow night. the "the reidout" starts now. we are following breaking news on multiple fronts this evening. moments from now president-elect joe biden will deliver his first speech since reaching a major milestone in the 2020 election. the electoral college certifying his election victory over the sitting president of the united states. not an easy thing for a candidate to do. that news comes on the day of a huge development in the fight against the coronavirus. one of the first pfizer vaccines

administered today to a new york nurse. a nurse the vaccine is a note of hope on a dark day. with the united states hitting the horrific milestone of 300,000 deaths. due to the pandemic. she will be here on the "the reidout" to talk about this significant step. we have late breaking news out of the justice department. a tweet from donald trump announcing attorney general barr will step down on december 23. trump hired him to be the roy cohn. and barr dlifr delivered on that. down playing a mueller report. and investigate the rush probe itself. the relationship took a negative turn when barr told the associated press the department of justice hasn't found any evidence of voter fraud. we'll talk about that. first let's begin with the news on the electoral college vote. california electors finalize their vote. sealing the victory.

today electors were under more scrutiny than every before. thanks to the toxic and dangerous environment trump has created by refusing to concede the election. over the weekend his supporters held a march for trump rally in d.c. after the rally four people were stabbed in altercations with counter protesters and the far right proud boys burned and torn down black lives matter signs from two historically black churches. so, it's no wonder that electors were on high alert especially in states biden flipped. despite what trump wanted to defy the will of the voter every state voted as expected today. according to the "new york times" states chose to live stream events this year. in attempt to prevent conspiracy theories. many states were forced to take extraordinary security measures. michigan closed its capitol during the vote due to threats of violence.

and the electors got police escorts. in the united states. they were afraid for their safety. let that sink in. there was no violence reported in the state ts, republicans did what they could to stir the pot. republican electors in multiple blue states holding ceremony votes for trump. just in case the court somewhere on a near planet over turns the election and let's him stay in power. a pennsylvania elector. congresswoman porter of california. and former acting solicitor general. attorney general, i'll start with you. steven miller worked for the white house a taxpayer funded employee of the united states government. of the administration. i want to let you listen to him talking about this scheme to have alternative electors seated just in case. >> the only date in the

constitution is january 20. so we have more than enough time to right the wrong of this fraudulent election result and certify donald trump as the winner. as we speak, today, and ultimate state of electors in the contested states will vote. and send the results up to congress. this will ensure that all of the legal remedies remain open. >> somebody with a legal responsibility to the state of pennsylvania, what do you make of that kind of statement from an employee taxpayer funded of the white house? >> i think we all know miller to be really just a vile human being. the person who separated children from their families and now the person who is lying to the american people and obviously lying repeatedly to the president of the united states. nothing he said is true. nothing has legal weight behind it. as much as he wants to continue

to be a sycophant and suck up to the president, nothing he says is going to alter the out come of the 20 electoral votes cast for joe biden and kamala harris today here in pennsylvania. and the 306 that will be cast for joe biden and kamala harris across the country. period. end of sentence. >> what you're saying is this slate of electors it's meaningless. it's theater. >> it's a complete charade. it has no meaning. no basis in reality. donald trump lost the election. steven miller thank god is about to be out of the job. that's the reality. no matter what he says on the other net work it is not going to make it true. joe biden won the election. donald trump lost. and on january 20, joe biden will be sworn in as next president. >> pennsylvania was one of the

three states called the brexit state. they surprised everyone including the clinton campaign and went for trump. all three of the states flipped back. the center of the conspiracy theory. you are an elector. did you fear for your safety and other electors from your state fear for their safety? >> well, i'm not going to talk about my safety and security. i'm blessed to have folks here in pennsylvania who worry about that. this was a different moment for all of the electors in pennsylvania. there was a will the of security presence. i have been an elector three times. i was honored to cast a vote for obama in 2008 and 12. and obviously today for joe biden. i will tell you it was different today. it's a sad state of affairs it was different. while those elements that sort of bring about the threats to public officials and communities across not just pennsylvania but the country. those elements have existed for

sometime. donald trump has given them a permission slip. you can draw a direct line between the rhetoric of the sitting president the tweets of the sitting president, and the threats that have been made against good public servants. republican and democrat. all across the land. there is no place for that. in pennsylvania or in this country. i can tell you the chief law enforcement officer of pennsylvania. when donald trump engages in this rhetoric, this type of lies, people's lives are at risk. there's more danger in our society as a result of donald trump. that is the sad state of the reality that we live in today. >> very quickly. i have to release you. as somebody who has fwon through this and democracy changed in character. because of what trump and republicans have done, would you

think we should keep the elector system? should we switch to electoral system where once the votes are counted and certified that's it? we don't have the extra vote and the electors. there's so many reasons like myself object to it. what do you think? >> i have given this a lot of thought. we need to sit down once the dust settled and joe biden is the next president and reform this broken system. it comes from an age where certain people's votes did count in this country. it is now a system that no longer has a safety valve. think of this, imagine speaker pelosi or given what we know there's literally no bottom to the republicans, they would do anything. if there was an objection made with a member of senate. and put to vote under the a

speaker mccarthy. or mcconnell. they wouldn't respect the will of the people. we can no longer question the will of the people ever again. the spinelessness demonstrated by the members of congress and 18 attorneys general that signed onto the junk lawsuit from texas. that really would have ended our representative democracy had it gone forward. that demonstrates there's no safety valve left and make sure the will of the people and popular vote governs future elections. the time for the discussion is after the dust settles and joe biden is sworn in. but we have need to have the conversation in the country. >> i think you can get an i men on that. >> i'll take that from you. >> i really appreciate that.

i'd like to bring in congresswoman. as well as neil. they will round out the segment for us. i get i'll ask the same question. i want to play quickly this is a michigan state representative. representative. this is what he talked about about disrupting the electoral college. >> am i going to give up or do the hail mary? it's my obligation to my constituents to go down every avenue that we can go down to see about the fraud the mishandling. >> you have. >> i'll start with you representative porter, he makes a point. we have seen how republicans are willing to go to under mine the will of the people and the if they could, if mckcarthy was

speaker. we would be looking alt a potential stolen election. despite a 7 million vote margin. is it time to get rid of the extra step? in finishing off an election. and let the vote of the people stand and get rid of the electoral college. you're both lawyers. >> i agree about the importance of having the debate and moving forward. the importance is the people who voted who went to the polls, some of whom wearing masks and social distance. it was a difficult election in many ways. we had record participation. what we're doing this kind of statement that we heard from gentleman in michigan. he has a duty to his constituents to throw the hail mary? i'm sorry, sir. you have a duty to your constituents to honor the democracy of the country. that means accepting the result of the election. >> yeah. let me play for you, this is the

like 170 years ago. this was 20 years ago. this is al gore his concession speech. 20 years ago yesterday. take a listen. >> now the u.s. supreme court has spoken. let there be no doubt while i strongly disagree with the courts decision, i accept it. i accept the finality of the out come is for the sake of the unity of the people and strength of democracy i offer my concession. i accept my responsibility which i will discharge on unconditionally to honor the new president-elect and doering possible to help him bring americans together. >> this is a situation where al gore did ran through his legal processes and all of the options. three people on the supreme court now were part of the effort on the bush side. when it was done it was done.

that is not what republicans are doing. even though it's done it will never be done. >> exactly. i was a jr. lawyer on al gores team. i remember being so disappointed but deeply proud when he said that. that's american democracy. we lost sight we get numb to what's going on. we have a cry baby president who can't admit reality. this president is reaching the american psycho levels of delusion. he lost everywhere. when you have that michigan representative who says i have a duty or whatever. they filed 60 cases and have won one. out of 60. the one didn't get a single vote. it's quite a feet to lose that many cases across the country including michigan. it's like failing a class at yale. you have to try. and work at it in order to pull it off. they managed to do it. an alternate slate of electors that's alternate facts.

it's rooted in nothing. the point about systemic reform. it goes back to the electoral college. if you trace it back to the founding what's the it rooted in? protection of slavery. this system used to disenfranchise americans. what the folks are doing is so it's reprehensible. it's un-american. >> you mention -- representative porter, we have the proud boys which is the western chauvinist. people screaming racist and people tearing down black lives matter signs off historic churches. black churches. it was obvious what that was. one proud boy member inside the white house. the claim was he didn't meet the president. they were inside the white house. we reached a point where it's dangerous. i wonder if it it's possible as

somebody who has to legislate with republicans to serve in a body with them knowing 126 of them don't believe in democracy. i don't know how you go to work and serve with these people and what you can possibly get done with them. >> it's a challenge to try to think about how we're going to move forward. we're hopeful. when we have president-elect biden sworn in that we will see some of the republican colleagues return to putting their duty to their country first. it's very discourage. a number of people signed onto the lawsuit. including republican leadership. we want to say we're in situation where someone like attorney general barr who has gone so far so many times to defend president trump has finally said no more. >> yeah. by the way, the pictures from d.c. it looks like the streets of a

foreign capitol. it's hard to believe that's the united states. after an election. we can never talk about democracy again. look at the pictures. that's not america after a democratic election. the final question, i'm holding the letter from the william barr. which is 90% sycophant si. and sucking up. and saying things like i appreciate the opportunity to update you on the departments review of voter fraud allegations in the 2020 election. how they will continue to be pursued. what? there's nothing to pursue. he said it himself. that's the other part of the rot. we didn't have an attorney general during the course of the four years. we had people in various ways suck up to donald trump. >> there is only word for attorney general barr. that is disgrace. our crown jewel. the way he falsely summarized the mueller report and coddled

trumps friends and tear gassed the american public. and did nothing when we needed it the most. attorney general have stood for the rule of law. this person is spit on it. attorney general is justice being blind. he stand for justice being about who your friends are. attorney generals are supposed to stand up for a career men and women of the justice department. he openly defies them and makes fun of them. they are supposed to protect americans not tear gas them. he'll go down as the worst attorney general in our lifetime. which is fitting. trump will go down as the worst president in the lifetime. i guess the two managed to accomplish something in the end. >> indeed. he said nothing about the rule of law applying to protecting the church where frederick douglas were buried.

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today we enter a new faze in our fight against the deadly coronavirus pandemic. front line pk healthcare workers began receiving the first doses this morning. 3 million americans in all 50 states are expected to get the shot. by the end of the week. a nurse in new york the epicenter of the pandemic in the early days received the first approved vaccination in the country. joining me mow is that nurse. a nurse at the long island jewish medical center. thank you so much for being here. i heard i saw you on tv this morning. my husband ran in and heard what hospital you work at, i heard your accent. and my husband's grandmother worked in your same unit at that same hospital. so i was like i have to talk to

her. i want to ask about your experience getting the vaccine. tell us about it. were you nervous? >> thank you for having me on. i felt a huge sense of relief. hope for everyone around the world. that healing is coming. that we took a step in the right direction. to finally put an end to the covid-19 pandemic. i know that we still have a listening way to go. and so i encourage people to listen to the experts, to continue to social distance, continue to wear a mask. continue to practice hand hygiene. it really felt good to get that vaccine in my arm. finally. after all these months.

it was very dark many days. i just had to be numb to be able to push through and support my staff. as they worked tirelessly. they made tremendous sacrifices. to be on the front line. i just want to make sure i want right there with them to support them, to give them support and everything they needed. to carry on this fight. and save as many lives as they could. >> that's so important. queens really was -- that's where the horror began. we were noticing the coronavirus and the deadly impact was in queens before almost anywhere else. there is still this as pegt of the virus that is hitting harder in communities of color and brown and black communities. i want to show you on the screen there's a poll out that talked about the fact that african-americans and black

folks are skeptical of the vaccine. so when i found the 1619 project tweet out a black nurse getting this. it's so important. what message do you have to people in the black community scared to dwet get the vaccine. they don't trust the system. the history of black people's relationships with the medical world and research world. >> i will say to them i understand based on the history they have mistrust. in the medical system. as a nurse my practice is goided by the science. i believe in science. what you should not trust is covid-19. you don't know how it will effect you. i would say to you that i hope that me taking the vaccine today is an inspiration to you. and that you should trust the science. what i have seen i was just

tired of seeing. i'm tired of seeing the hurt and the pain. the suffering. and the death. that was why it was really important for me to take the vaccine and to do my part to put an end to this pandemic. >> yeah. thank you for doing that. i want to give you an opportunity to give a message to those who aren't taking it as seriously as they should. and planning maybe to gather over the christmas holiday. and over the all of the december holidays. what message to you give to people not giving it seriously and not masking? >> i would say to people if you haven't, take it from me. what i have seen and experienced and my staff has gone through. please know that this is serious. you have heard the experts all across the media. talking about the seriousness of

the pandemic. i urge you to take it seriously. to put off the celebrations this year. so we can all be together next year. and celebrate in person. as an immigrant from jamaica i look forward to going home every year. my family and i from here to celebrate with our friend and family back home. this year we will be doing it virtually. we're doing it so that next year we can be together in person. it will be a grand celebration. >> nurse, i'm so happy that you allowed us to spend time with you this evening. my husband's grandma a fellow immigrant and nurse. she will be thrilled to see this clip tonight. thank you for all you're doing. >> thank you for giving me this platform. a huge thanks to my team.

i can't thank you enough for everything that you have done. and for all the nurses around the country that came to our rescue when queens was hit hard. and the travel nurse ts that gave up your lives and made sacrifice to help us. thank you. >> yeah. you're wonderful. thank you so much. have a wonderful holiday season. we're moments away from a prime time address from the president-elect. will ask the country to unite and heal. i'm joined by our friends. claire mccaskill. and michael steel. i was so giddy talking to her. i went over time. tell me what you expect to hear tonight and do you think it will be effective? >> i expect the president-elect to come out and give us all a collective sigh of relief and say that the country is now ready to move on.

it's official. all the nations have been attained. we have gone through the process. and he will look to bind up the wound from the election. wounds that we know are still being cut at and torn at by donald trump. and some members of the party. my hope is that the vast majority of americans begin to rally around that sense of tun. and the optimism. for what joe biden plans to do. we'll get a good sense and taste of that tonight. >> the fact remains that joe biden cannot appoint donald trump supporters with reality. only trump can do that. and republicans can do that. they don't seem ready. >> officials in each state. without regard to party or political preference, have certified the winning candidate.

today, member of the electoral college, representing the certified winner. cast their votes for president and vice president of the united states. in an act just as old as our nation itself. once again. the america the rule of law our constitution and the will of the people prevail. our democracy pushed, tested, threatened, proved to be resilient. true and strong. the electoral college votes which occurred today respect the fact that even in the face of a public health crisis, people voted. they voted record numbers. more americans voted this year than ever voted in the history of the united states of the america. over 150 million americans were determined to have their voices heard and votes counted. in the start of this pandemic,

this crisis, many were wondering how many americans would vote at all? those fears proved to be unfounded. we saw something very few predicted even thought possible. the biggest voter turn out in the history of the united states of america. a number so big that this election now ranks as the clearest demonstration of the true will of the american people. one of the most amazing demonstrations of civic duty we have seen in our country. it should be celebrated not attacked. more than 81 million of those votes cast for me and vice president-elect harris. that is a record. more than any ticket has received in history of america. represents a winning margin of 7 million votes. over the number of votes cast for my opponent. together, the vice president-elect harris and i

earned 306 electoral votes. exceeding the 270 needed to secure a victory. 306 votes is the same number that donald trump and vice president pence received when they won in 2016. excuse me. at the time, president trump calls the electoral college tally a landslide. by his own standards these numbers represented a clear victory then. and i respectfully suggest they do so now. if anyone didn't know before they know now. what beats deep if the heart of the american people is this. democracy. the right to be heard. to have your vote counted. to choose leaders of the nation to govern ourselves and america. politicians don't take power. people grant power to them. the flame of democracy was lit

in this nation a long time ago. we now know nothing, not even a pandemic or abuse of power can extinguish that flame. and as the people kept it aflame, so too did courageous state and local officials. and election workers. american democracy works because america makes it work at a local level. extraordinary things we saw this year was every day americans our friend and neighbors often volunteers, democrats and republicans. independents. demonstrating absolute courage. they showed a deep and unwaivering faith in and the commitment to the law. they did their duty. in the face of the pandemic. and then could not and would not give credence to what they knew was not true. they knew this election was overseen and by them and honest

and free and fair. they saw with their own eyes, and wouldn't be bullied into saying anything different. it was remarkable. so many of the patriotic americans are subject to so much. numerous political pressure. verbal abuse. and threats of physical violence. we all wish that you are fellow americans in these positions will always show such courage and commitment to free and fair lerkss. my hope we never again see anyone subjected to the kind of threats and abuse we saw in the election. simp we owe them a debt of gratitude. they didn't seek the spotlight. democracy survived because of them. proof once more that it's every day merps infused with honor, character and decency, the heart

of the nation. in this election, there integrity was matched by strength, independence and integrity of the judicial system. in america, when questions are raised about the le jet ma si of an election they are resolved through the legal process. that is what happened here. the trump campaign brought dozens and dozens of legal challenges to test the result. they were heard again and again. and each time they were heard they were found to be without merit. time and again lawyers presented arguments to state officials, state legislators, state and federal courts. and to the united states supreme court. twice. heard by more than 80 judges across the country. and every case, no cause or evidence was found to reverse or question or dispute the results.

a few states went for recounts. all the counts were confirmed. results in georgia were counted three times. didn't change the out come. recount conducted in wisconsin actually saw our margin grow. a margin we had in michigan was 14 times the margin president trump won that state by four years ago. our margin in pennsylvania was twice the size of the trump margin four years ago. and yet, none of this stopped baseless claims about the results. even more stunning, 17 republican attorneys general and 126 republican members of the congress, actually they actually signed onto a lawsuit filed by the state of texas. that lawsuit asking the united states supreme court to reject the certified vote counts in georgia, michigan, pennsylvania

and wisconsin. this legal maneuver was an effort by elected officials in one group of states to get the supreme court to wipe out votes of americans in other states and hand the presidency to a candidate who lost the electoral college, lost the popular vote. and lost each and every one of the states whose votes they were trying to reverse. it's a position so extreme we have never seen it before. a position that refused to respect the rule of the people. refuse the rule of law and refuse to honor the constitution. thankfully, a unanimous supreme court immediately and completely rejected this effort. the court sent a clear signal. to president trump that they would be no part of an unprecedented assault on democracy. every single avenue was made available for president trump to

contest the result. he took full advantage of each and every one of those avenues. president trump was denied no course of action he wanted to take. he took the case to republican governors. and republican secretary of state. as he criticized many of them. republican state legislature. republican appointed judges at every level. the case decided after the supreme court rejection. a judge appointed by president trump wrote, quote this court is allowed the plaintiff the chance to make his case. and he lost on the merit. end of quote. lost on the merit. president trump's own cyber security chief over seeing our elections said it was the most secure election in american history. and he was let go. let me say it again. his own cyber security chief. over seeing this election. said it was the most secure and

in american history. and respecting the will of the people is the heart of the democracy. even we find the results hard to accept. that is the obligation of those who taken on a sworn duty to uphold the constitution. four years ago when i was a sitting vice president of the united states, it was my responsibility to announce the tally of the electoral votes of the joint session of congress that elected donald trump. i did my job. i'm pleased but not surprised a number of former republican colleagues in the senate acknowledged already the results of the electoral college. i thank them. and i'm convinced we can work together for the good of the nation. on many subjects. that's the duty owed to the people. to the constitution. to the history. in this battle, for the soul of

america, democracy prevailed. we the people voted. faith in our institution held. the integrity of the election remains in tact. now it's time to turn the page as we have done throughout history. to unite and heal. as i said in the campaign, i will be president for all americans. i will work just as hard for those who didn't vote for me as i will for those who did. there's urgent work in front of us. getting a pandemic under control and getting a nation vaccinated against this virus. delivering immediate economic help so badly needed by so many americans hurting today. then building our economy back better than it ever was. and doing so, we need to work together. to give each other a chance. to lower the temperature. most of all, we need to stand in solidarity. as fellow americans.

to see each other. our pain, our struggle, hopes and dreams. we're a great nation. we're a good people. we come from different places, different believes. we share in common a love for the country. a belief in the limitless possibility. for we the united states of america as always set the example for the world. for a peaceful transition of power. we do so again. i know the task before us won't be easy. the pain so many are feeling. today, our nation passed a grim milestone. 300,000 deaths due to the covid virus. my heart goes out to each of you. in the dark winter of the pandemic. about the spepd the holiday and new year with black hole in your

heart. without the ones you love at your side. my heart goes out to all of you who have fallen on hard times. through no fault of your own. staring at the ceiling weighed down by the worry of what tomorrow will bring for you. and your family. we face difficult times before in history. i know we'll get through this one together. that's how we get through it, together. we start the hard work to be done, may this moment give us the strength to rebuild this house of ours. upon a rock that can never be washed away. as in the prayer of st. francis. where there is discord union and doubt and faith. darkness, light. this is who we are as a nation. this is the america we love. and that is the america we're

going to be. thank you all, may god bless you. may god protect our troops. and all those who stand watch over our democracy. thank you. president-elect joe biden. delivering his first remarks after the official count from the electoral college makes him president-elect double official. he said that the people voted. even if the face of the the pandemic. 155 million americans. the largest vote total in the hst history of the united states. they did it despite the pandemic. he also praised the local officials and the local public servants who endured a threat and bullying to do the right thing. to uphold the will of the people. and the margin of course. a victory lap there. 81 million for himself. and former senator kamala

harris. the 7 million vote margin. 306 electoral votes more than enough to make his president of the united states. he also talked about the heart of america which is a theme for joe biden. and the heart of america is democracy. he says politicians don't take power, people grant power to them. even a pandemic or abuse of power can extinguish that flame. former senator claire mccaskill and former chairman of the national republican committee. the president-elect took some time to take to task those 126 republican house members in the 17 attorneys general. who decided to attack the election and went all the way to the supreme court. trying to reverse the will of the people. what do you make of the remarks and how do you think that wind up landing on your former colleagues? in your former seat who have

been rejectionist. >> first i think it is notable that none of the republican senators signed onto -- which is interesting. here's the deal, those 126 people all but a handful knew it was a joke. my congresswoman signed onto it. she is someone who withdrew her support of trump after the access hollywood tape and backed that up. when she felt the heat. she knew it was a silly thing. there was no legal merit to the case. most colleagues that signed on knew the same thing. but thought the harm that would come politically out weighed the harm to the democracy. >> doesn't that make it worse? >> yes, it does. much worse. >> if they had some genuine belief that there has been a fraud or the election had been stolen, in the year 2000 when

democrats supported al gore. when he took it all the way to the supreme court, there was a genuine concern. there had been real voter disenfranchisement in florida. a purge of the electorate. gonzalez, suddenly you can't vote. there's a lot of reason for people to believe al gore should take it all the way. he took it. in this case, these people signed onto the effort knowing it was a fake and fraud and did it simply to save their political skin in it's cowardly. >> that's exactly what they did. al gore won the popular vote. >> correct. >> this situation we have a president who lost the popular vote, both elections. and in this one he lost it spectacularly. they knew when they signed it, most of them that it was a joke. they did it just to save their

political skin. they thought this will go away. no real harm. this way i can protect myself and i get to stick around for a while. i have news for them, he's doing real harm now. if they think they can just skate along until january 20 and put up with the kind of rhetoric that we saw over the weekend in the d.c. from the proud boys and the stain on the proud boys for removing banners from churches. and thinking it was okay. all of that, this is on them. i do believe joe biden speech tonight spoke to most of america. they want us to move past this election and come together. and get our economy back and help people and make sure the vaccine is circulated. and go back to a sense of something that's normal. than a pouting child in the white house that is demanding everyone go along with the

farce. >> yeah. michael, hearing joe biden -- it's like hearing a family member. he is so normal. it's almost sort of shocking after four years of this total reality show. to hear a regular guy who is president. he's not a obama who is singular order. joe biden is not that. he's like an uncle trying to say calm down, everybody. the adults are home. whatever crazy party you have been throwing in the house, clean it up. it's time to grow up. do you think that works in an era that has become this mad? >> it has to. we need it as a country. to claire's point there are a lot of americans who are really looking and hoping to get past this moment. they don't like the direction the country is going in. they don't like the feel of it. it doesn't feel good. you don't feel connected

anymore. you feel people tearing at you when you see the images from the weekend of the idiots desecrating a church. and some respects. certainly what those institutions mean to african-americans. regardless of the

>> i miss the days where i can fight with you on tv and then text you because we were fighting about things like policy and not have to worry about the proud boys tearing up the church where frederick dug dug -- y'all don't believe it but i know a lot of republicans. >> no, no. and you're right. go on. >> i was going to say i think we need to -- >> real quick. >> i think we just need to ask him, so you deal with the proud boys? just let us know where you stand so we know where you stand with

you. >> we need to ask, absolutely. claire and michael are sticking with me and they'll stay with me. up next the latest on republicans' delusiona insistence that donald trump actually won the election, despite what you just saw, the new president-elect speaking. stay with us. finding understanding doesn't have to be. together, we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. go to autismspeaks.org

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the craziness in your party. you have had 126 members who signed onto that texas lawsuit. you're talking about kevin mccarthy, who would be speaker if the house were to flip, steve scalise, he's in leadership. mario diaz balart in florida and others. you had them running away. kevin mccarthy, steve scalise refusing to make any comments about the supreme court loss, just pretending it didn't happen. i want you to listen to a guy named paul mitchell. he is quitting the field rather than standing and fighting as his party goes downhill. take a listen. >> as i saw that amicus brief as well as the discussions over the weekend in the national media, it became clear to me that i could no longer be associated with the republican party that leadership does not say up and say the process, the election is over. it's over today. i saw the president tweet out it's not over until january 20

and he's going to continue to combat this. the people have voted. as i said in my letter, i voted for donald trump. i supported the administration policies, 95%, 96% the last two terms. i've been active in the actual state party. but this party has to stand up for democracy first, for our constitution first, and not political considerations, not protect a candidate, not simply for raw political power. that's what i feel is going on and i've had enough. >> michael, if the people who see reality are quitting, leaving the matt gaetz and the governor of montana, leaving that lot behind and the qanon people behind, what happens to your party? >> have you ever seen an orange that's been sitting in the sun too long and it just shrivels up to nothing after a fashion? the bright light of democracy shining on this party will shrivel this form of the party to nothing. i mean that's the reality of it.

it's sad to me good men and women, many of whom i've worked with and known a long time leave. you have representative mitchell here who served the good people of this district in michigan for quite some time deciding this is not who we are and this is not who i am leave. and it is -- it is, to use the word the problem that wretches at you, pulls at you to try to fix this. and some of us are still trying to fix it because we believe that it is -- there is something there to fix. but that -- that, like sitting in the sun, the bright light of this democracy, that heat becomes too much. you can't save it. you can't pick it up off the curb. even when you do, it's not salvageable. so we'll see where it goes. i think mitchell -- representative mitchell's statements today says a lot about where this party is headed. >> i'll give you the last word on this, claire. you know, john thune, senator

majority whip republican, told politico i understand there are people who feel strongly about the outcome of this election, but in the end at some point you have to face the music. i think once the electoral college settled the issue today, it's time for everybody to move on. that sounds good, but we haven't seen the senate majority leader say anything like that, at least as of yet. how hopeful are you, as somebody who served in the united states senate, that they'll grow up? >> well, it all depends on what their political fortunes are going forward. if they're up in two years in a state like mine, where the state legislators were meeting today in jefferson city listening to rudy giuliani go on about just pure nonsense, then they're going to be very careful and they're going to try to stay quiet or hide behind a bible verse, like marco rubio did today. but there will be some like john thune who will accept up and who will state the obvious. they will be remembered if the republican party survives, they

will be remembered as the ones who saved it. >> yeah. lil marco, surprise. wait until ivanka trump is running against you or one of the trump kids is your opponent in the next senate race. see where your loyalty will get you. claire mccaskill, michael steele, thank you very much. "all in with chris hayes" is up right now. chris. >> thank you so much, joy, appreciate it. nice to see you in person. good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes. it has been a really remarkable day of news. we just heard president-elect joe biden delivering a speech in wilmington, delaware, on a truly significant day as we're right now looking to turn the page on the two biggest stories of this brutal, brutal year. so today members of the electoral college met across the country to formally cast their ballots. now, this happens every four years. this is usually a pro forma thing that's not really covered. it happens in the bac